Wheat gluten in powdered form has long been used in the food industries, particularly to supplement the normal protein content of flour in the production of yeast-leavened baked goods, and also to strengthen and improve alimentary products such as macaroni. In most such uses, and in other uses outside the food industry, it is necessary or desirable to disperse the gluten in an aqueous medium. Wheat glutens, and particularly the undenatured or so-called "vital" wheat glutens employed in the production of baked goods, exhibit a marked tendancy to agglomerate when introduced into an aqueous medium at or near neutral pH, and dispersions of what gluten thus are unduly difficult to prepare and not adequately uniform.
Prior-art workers have proposed a number of ways to inhibit or reduce the tendancy of particulate protein materials to agglomerate when introduced into an aqueous liquid. One approach, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,819,970, issued to Albert E. Steigmann, and 3,362,829, issued to Bert W. Landfried et al, involves coating the particles of gluten or the like to both prevent agglomeration and increase dispersibility. A second approach, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,131, issued to Hampton et al, includes fluidized bed agglomeration of powdered gluten to produce irregular agglomerates said to be readily dispersible.
Prior-art methods for inhibiting agglomeration of wheat gluten by coating the gluten particles have achieved considerable success in the production of bread, rolls and other yeast-leavened baked goods, but the necessity for coating the gluten has increased the effective cost of the gluten to the baker. There has accordingly been a continuing need for an effective but less expensive solution to the problem of inhibiting agglomeration.